JESUS-DEPENDENCE
AS RELATED TO ROMANS 1

Getting back to Romans 7:25, In this verse Paul does not say that he sees a present manifestation of that reality. He only says that with his mind he agrees that what God says is right is right and that, yes, Jesus is his solution to bringing his soul and body into subjection with what is right; but in the mean time he states that with his body, whether he wants to or not, he is continuing to serve sin.

What Paul is saying here is that he is no longer striving with the fact of his present condition in the flesh. He is saying that he has given that problem to Jesus and is now trusting Jesus to take care of it in His own time and way. The Apostle Peter admonishes, "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." (1 Pet 5:7). In the mean time Paul is resting in that reality, that Jesus is going to take care of it, and Paul is no longer allowing Satan or his flesh to condemn him. Once you give your problems to Jesus they are no longer your problems and thus no longer your responsibility. They become Jesus’ responsibility.

Paul can now say with confidence, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1). There is no condemnation in Jesus because once a person trusts Jesus to save him and entrusts the problems of his life to Jesus to take care of them, it is then up to Jesus to do just that, to take care of them. The condemnation is now on Jesus.

Paul continues in Romans 8,

"For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:2-4).

What does Paul mean by, ". . . the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus"? The answer to this can be found in two passages of Scripture: Paul says in Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might," and in Romans 8:11,

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you."

Paul is saying in Romans and Ephesians, since we cannot overcome the flesh in our own strength, Jesus wants us to look to Him for His strength and His power through the Holy Spirit through our spirits to over come our flesh. If, when we come to Jesus with a problem through worship and praise, Jesus shows us that our problem is centered in our flesh, the solution then is to seek Jesus for His strength and power to overcome the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul goes on and says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." (Rom 8:6). If Jesus shows us that our problem is our flesh, Paul says that if we try to overcome our flesh in our own strength it will only result in frustration, death. Why? Because, Paul explains:

". . . the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom 8:7-8).

Paul explains that first of all to look to ourselves for the strength to overcome and live a godly life is not just displeasing to God, but is actually hostile toward God. Paul explains it is hostile because God knows the flesh cannot submit to His ways.

To set our minds on the Spirit does please God because setting our minds on the Spirit is actually setting our minds on Jesus, since Jesus gives us His strength and power to overcome through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Looking to Jesus to overcome our flesh in His strength not only pleases God, but Paul says it leads to life and peace.

Paul goes on,

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, NOT to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Rom 8:12-13).

Paul explains that, if in the face of truth, we persist in trying to correct ourselves anyway, God will bring about circumstances to break us of our self-dependence, death; so that we will look only to Jesus to bring about the victory we need over the flesh, life.

In review, what is walking in the Spirit and thus being Jesus-dependent according to Paul in Romans Chapters 7 and 8? If after seeking Jesus through worship and praise and in Spirit and truth He shows us that our present problem is centered in our flesh, His solution for us is to look to Him for His strength and His power to overcome the flesh which is what it means to walk in the Spirit according to Romans 7 and 8.

In the second Section of this school of evangelism and the fourth chapter we talked about the purpose of the prayer language quite extensively as it relates to getting to the heart of a problem whether spiritual, soulish, or physical, so that we can be one with Jesus through the Holy Spirit in knowing how to pray for the need. The Apostle Paul states,

"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Rom 8:26-27).

When we look to Jesus as to how to pray for a need in relation to ourselves, God, and others through the use of our spiritual language first and then through interpretation so that we can then pray with our understanding, we are practicing an aspect of what it means to be Jesus-dependent and thus what it means to walk in the Spirit.

Another way our spiritual language helps us walk in the Spirit and thus be Jesus-dependent is by helping us keep our eyes on Jesus continually. This is related to two different commands given to us in Scripture. The Apostle Paul commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." How are we to pray without ceasing? Paul gives us the answer to this question in Ephesians 6:18, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Paul commands us to pray without ceasing and to do this by praying in the Spirit continually.

How else does our spiritual language help us walk in the Spirit and thus be Jesus-dependent? Jesus-dependence and walking in the Spirit is keeping our eyes on Jesus and trusting in Him to make us what He wants us to be through the power of the Holy Spirit and not in our own strength. Walking in the Spirit is not focusing on our problems, but on Jesus, the solution. To pray in our spiritual language leads to thinking and focusing on Jesus. If we are thinking and focusing on Jesus then we are not focusing on our problems. If praying in my spiritual language gets my eyes off of my problems and on to Jesus, then by definition I am walking in the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit involves looking to Jesus to build us up and make us what He created us to be. The disciple Jude says that when one prays in his spiritual language it results in building him up in his faith.⁹⁰ The Apostle Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 14:4, "One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. . ." Praying in the Spirit also fulfills the command of Paul to "in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5:17-18). Paul says when you pray in the Spirit you are giving thanks and praise to God.⁹¹

Jesus said in the Gospel of John,

"He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him." (John 14:21).

Since it is Jesus’ will that we pray in the Spirit continually, according to Paul, if we obey this command, Jesus promises to manifest Himself to us, and thus we get the answer to our needs.